A few seconds later, Copper and the three cubs were standing in a circle in the river.
"Uh, Uncle Copper? Are you sure this is gonna work?" asked Cinnamon tentatively.
"I'm not sure of anything at this point. All I know is this fish has it in for us. We have all tried to catch him, but it hasn't worked. So, if we work together, we should be able to catch him."
"And if we don't?" asked Chloe.
"Then no supper tonight." The cubs gulped. "Okay, on the count of three. 1…2…3!"
What followed was a mess of dog and fox cubs splashing every which way in the water, causing such a racket that you could hear it for miles. There was splashing, barking and yelling.
"I got him! I got him!" Cinnamon kicked up streams of water as he dived toward a rock. The fish swam under the rock at the last second. Cinnamon skidded to a halt, narrowly missing the rock face. "I had him! Come here!"
The fish slithered out from under the rock, swimming toward Chloe. Spotting it, Chloe swatted, trying to get it out of the water. It kept leaping away from her. "Go onto the riverbank, you sucker! Stay still!"
The fish leaped away from Chloe and headed toward Little Copper, who was watching the water intently. He watched the fish carefully, then dunked his head in quickly in an attempt to grab it. What he got was a mouthful of twigs. "Ew! Twigs! Yuck!"
Copper was splashing around in another part of the river, barking and growling at the fish, hoping to scare it into submission. It seemed fruitless. He stopped for a second, sitting down, his tongue lolling out of his mouth, panting heavily. He couldn't help smiling at the cubs; although they had pushed him into the river, they had only done it in fun. They were cubs after all. He decided another plan of attack was needed. He barked, signaling the cubs to him. They splashed over obediently, scared of what would happen next.
"Uncle Copper, are you still mad at us?" asked Little Copper.
Copper smiled at the chocolate cub. "No, but I will be if we don't catch that fish soon." He smiled. Little Copper smiled back, relieved.
"I can't catch him, he's to fast!" Cinnamon splashed over, panting.
"Me neither. Stupid fish," spat Chloe.
Copper smiled. "Okay, troops, I have one more idea. If we can corner the fish and we all dive for him at the same time, we should manage to do it. One of us should catch him. Now, are you ready?"
"YEAH!"